Equipped for success

by
Alan Keir

Chief Executive, HSBC Bank plc

Many businesses with massive export potential lack the confidence to look overseas

The British economy has never wanted for ingenuity. Britain’s businesses are among the most innovative and imaginative in the world. But in recent years, their potential has failed to translate into significant export growth.

As Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron has observed, increasing exports is essential to the country’s future prosperity. A five percentage-point rise in the proportion of UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) exporting would add GBP30 billion to GDP, creating 100,000 jobs. The Government has already set a target of doubling exports to GBP1 trillion by 2020.

The Government has already set a target of doubling exports to GBP1 trillion by 2020

Hitting this target will take considerable work. We know from talking to our customers that many businesses with massive export potential lack the confidence to look overseas. They do not have the connections that would ease their transition to new markets and they see little or no value in reaching beyond their own back yard.

HSBC is committed to helping them overcome these barriers, but only the UK Government can deconstruct them for good.

This paper sets out eight policy recommendations which we believe would improve the prospects of potential exporters in the United Kingdom. They are the result of extensive dialogue with our customers and are achievable within the short to medium term. Taken together, we are confident that they would make a material difference to the UK’s export potential.

HSBC believes that the UK has everything it needs to succeed in the new global economy. The challenge is to deliver on that potential and make international business the norm, rather than the exception.

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